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Happiness Manifested in Book I of the Psalter*

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Happiness Manifested in Book I of the Psalter* S&I 3, no. 1 (2009): 33-47 ISSN 1975-7123 Happiness Manifested in Book I of the Psalter* Sora Kang BaekSeok University, Korea [email protected] Abstract The eight yr'#$;)a sayings in Book I of the Psalter (1–41), forming a prominent structure at the beginning (Pss 1–2), the middle (Pss 32– 34), and the end (Pss 40–41), evidence structural unity and purpose- ful arrangement. The first (Pss 1–2) and the last clusters (Pss 40–41) present two foundations for happiness in life: delighting in God’s in- struction and trusting in God. The second cluster of yr'#$;)a sayings (Pss 32–34) resolves the issue of sin by declaring God’s forgiveness (Ps 32), God’s election of his own people (Ps 33), and by offering instruc- tions for wisdom and happiness in life (Ps 34). These compositional links allow for more holistic readings of Book I and indeed, the whole Psalter. (Keywords: Psalms, ’ashrei sayings, structural and linguistic approaches) I. Introduction The term yr'#$;)a (“how happy” or “how blessed”)1 in Psalm 1:1 calls for the reader’s attention because it is the opening word of the Psalter2 and because it is distributed in places of particular attention in the Psal- * This article is a summary of my dissertation, “Reading Book I of the Psalter through the yr'#$;)a Sayings” (Ph.D. diss., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2007). 1 The term yr'#$;)a is found 26 times in 19 psalms in the book of Psalms (Pss 1:1; 2:12; 32:1, 2; 33:12; 34:8; 40:4; 41:1; 65:4; 84:4, 5, 12; 89:15; 94:12; 106:3; 112:1; 119:1, 2; 127:5; 128:1, 2; 137:8, 9; 144:15 [2x]; 146:5). Versifica- tion hereinafter follows the standard versification of the English Bible. 2 As noted in Midrash Tehillim, the Psalter takes up at the opening the very word yr'#$;)a that Moses said to bless Israel (l)'rF#&;yI K1yrE#$;)a) before his death (Deut 33:29). Thus the tenor of blessing and happiness continues in the Psalter. See W. G. Braude, The Midrash on Psalms (2 vols.; YJS 13; New Haven: Yale Uni- versity Press, 1959). The same idea may hold for the first word maka&rioj (the Greek equivalent to yr'#$;)a) with which Jesus begins the eight beatitudes (Matt 5:3-12) in his sermon on the mount. 34 Scripture and Interpretation vol. 3, no. 1 (2009) ter.3 The yr'#$;)a sayings in Book I, in particular, demonstrate a pronounced structure more amenable to formal study than those in the other collec- tions. These sayings occur in the beginning (Pss 1–2) and at the end of the collection (Pss 40–41), as well as in between the two (Pss 32–34). The yr'#$;)a statements in Psalms 1–2 and Psalms 40–41, constituting an inclusio, serve to frame a unit of Book I. According to James L. Mays, the beginning of the Psalter with an yr'#$;)a saying invites the reader to “read and use the entire book as a guide to a blessed life.”4 Recently W. A. VanGemeren and J. C. McCann have carried further the possibility of reading the Psalter (esp. Book I) from the perspective of happiness. In his 2002 article “Psalm 32 in Romans 4:1-8,” VanGemeren suggests a way to read Book I, following “the story line” manifested in the eight yr'#$;)a sayings in the collection.5 Inspired by Mays’s conclusion that the Psalter invites the reader to happy living, McCann has briefly examined the eight beatitudes in Book I stressing human happiness through delighting in God’s instruction and consider- ation of the poor.6 Based on VanGemeren’s and McCann’s proposals, I will investigate the eight yr'#$;)a sayings in Book I for a new understanding of Book I in its present shape. The methodological bases for the article are primarily Brevard Childs’s canonical approach and linguistic and exegetical analy- ses.7 Before dealing with the texts in which the yr'#$;)a sayings appear, I 3 The term yr'#$;)a appears in the first two psalms of the Psalter (Pss 1 and 2), in the closing psalms of Books I, III, and IV (Pss 41, 89, and 106), and in the opening (Ps 146) of the concluding five psalms of the Psalter (Pss 146-150). 4 J. L. Mays, Psalms (IBC; Louisville: John Knox, 1994), 40, 41. 5 W. A. VanGemeren, “Psalm 32 in Romans 4:1-8” (paper presented at the annual meeting of the ETS, Toronto, 21 Nov. 2002), 14; see also W. A. VanGe- meren, Psalms (rev. ed.; EBC; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 80-1. 6 J. C. McCann, “The Shape of Book I of the Psalter and the Shape of Hu- man Happiness,” in The Book of Psalms: Composition and Reception (ed. P. W. Flint and P. D. Miller; VTSup 99; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2005), 340-48. 7 B. S. Childs, “Reflections on the Modern Study of the Psalms,” in Mag- nalia Dei: The Mighty Acts of God: Essays in Memory of G. Ernest Wright (ed. F. M. Cross, W. E. Lemke, and P. D. Miller; Garden City: Doubleday, 1976); and B. S. Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979), 504-25. Childs has championed the significance of the present, final form of the book of Psalms by highlighting the implications of the way in which the Psalter was finally collected and established as canonical Scripture, as well as of the way in which it was given its present shape and structure. Childs’s canoni- cal approach has made a remarkable impact on Psalms scholarship, in that it has provided an impetus for academicians to search for ways to read the Psalter as a unified whole by focusing on issues such as its arrangement, its editorial purpose, and its overall themes, as well as on the interrelationships between ad- Kang: Happiness Manifested in Book I of Psalms 35 will discuss the usage and characteristics of the term yr'#$;)a and the yr'#$;)a sayings in the Old Testament with particular emphasis on the Psalter. Then I will examine the first cluster of the yr'#$;)a sayings (Pss 1–2) and then the last cluster (Pss 40–41) prior to the second cluster (Pss 32–34) in order to see whether the first and the last clusters (that form an inclu- sio marking the structural boundary of Book I) as a whole address any particular, shared message to the collection. This study will demonstrate that the yr'#$;)a sayings in Book I present clues for happiness in life in terms of the three relationships of the psalmist, that is, with God, with others, and with the self. II. The Usage and Characteristics of the yr'#$;) Sayings The word yr'#$;)a is a masculine, plural construct form of r#$e)e or r#$e)& (“happiness,” “blessedness”).8 English versions commonly translate yr'#$;)a in Psalm 1:1, for example, as “happy” or “blessed.”9 Nevertheless, it is more literal and appropriate to render it “how happy,” “how blessed,” or jacent psalms, groups, and collections. The transition toward a holistic reading relates closely to developments in linguistics, in which focus has moved from the level of the sentence to that of discourse. As linguistics has thrived and contrib- uted to many areas, various literary and linguistic theories (e.g., stylistics, rhe- torical studies, structural analysis, syntactics, semantics, pragmatics, semiotics) have also been applied to Hebrew poetry and have offered new perspectives for understanding the book of Psalms. See D. M. Howard, “Recent Trends in Psalms Study,” in The Faith of Old Testament Studies: A Survey of Contemporary Approaches (ed. D. W. Baker and B. T. Arnold; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999), 344-55; D. M. Howard, “The Psalms and Current Study,” in Interpreting the Psalms: Issues and Approaches (ed. D. Firth and P. S. Johnston; Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2005), 23-40; P. D. Miller, Interpreting the Psalms (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986), 16-17; and W. R. Bodine, “Discourse Analysis of Biblical Literature: What It Is and What It Offers,” in Discourse Analysis of Biblical Literature: What It Is and What It Offers (ed. W. R. Bodine; SBLSS; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995), 5-7. 8 Regarding the term yr'#$;)a, see F. Hauck and G. Bertram, “maka&rioj,” TDNT 4:362-70; W. Janzen, “’ašrê in the Old Testament,” HTR 58 (1965): 215-26; H. Cazelles, “yr'#$;)a,” TDOT 1:445-48; J. Dupont, La bonne nouvelle (vol. 2 of Les Béatitudes; EBib; Paris: Gabalda, 1969), 328-38; M. L. Brown, “yr'#$;) a,” NIDOTTE 1:571; Michael A. Grisanti, “r#$) II,” NIDOTTE 1:568-69; E. H. Merrill, “r#$) I,” NIDOTTE 1:567-68; B. T. Viviano, “Eight Beatitudes at Qumran and in Matthew? A New Publication from Cave Four,” SEÅ 58 (1993): 72-74; M. Sœbø, “r#$),” TLOT 1:195-97. 9 “Happy” (NRSV, NLV, NJPS), “blessed” (ASV, ESV, KJV, NIRV, NIV, NKJV). Note some versions like NRSV and YLT use a single word for the trans- lation of yr'#$;)a throughout the OT (“happy” and “O the happiness of,” respec- tively). Most versions, however, utilize two or more different words/phrases ac- cording to contexts. 36 Scripture and Interpretation vol. 3, no. 1 (2009) “O the happiness of” as in some English versions10 because yr'#$;)a gener- ally introduces a sentence such as an exclamatory wish or an interjectory beginning.11 As these renderings indicate, yr'#$;)a expresses one’s stative sense of being happy, underscoring a secular sense of happiness, yet the term does not exclude a spiritual and religious notion, as in references to those who live pious lives depicted in the wisdom literature and in the Psalter.
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